?Danny Drinkwater is furious at suggestions he turned down a call-up to Gareth Southgate’s England squad, the Mirror have reported.

The Chelsea midfielder was reportedly called upon at the last minute after six players dropped out of the squad for friendlies with Germany and Brazil.

He claimed he was lacking fitness and still needed to undertake an intensive course of daily treatment on his calf injury.

But Southgate appeared to criticise Drinkwater’s reluctance to join up with the national team prior to Friday’s 0-0 draw against Germany.

“You’ve got to be able to cover the ground, you’ve got feel that you are in peak physical condition,” the England coach said. “It’s a conversation we have with the players all the time.

“He’s not been fit for the last three camps. You can’t do anything about that.

“I thought it would be worth finding out where he was, given there’s a chance he plays for Chelsea this year, plays at a good level.”

Drinkwater is believed to be fuming at suggestions he intentionally rejected the call-up, and is now concerned that his England future could be in doubt.

The 27-year-old has yet to reach full fitness at Chelsea this season, having moved to Stamford Bridge in a £35m deal from Leicester in the summer.

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Drinkwater has not played a full 90 minutes for the Blues since May, and he suffered a recurrence of his calf problem following his introduction as a substitute in last weekend’s 1-0 win against Manchester United.